A.M. #63: Chicago

The NHL trade deadline has passed. Marian Gaborik is gone, Matt Frattin and Nick Schultz have arrived, and the Blue Jackets have 20 games to prove their mettle in the Eastern Conference.

"There's always those anxious moments leading up to the trade deadline, trying to figure out the difference between what might happen and what is going to happen," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. "Right now, I think the organization -- management, the coaches, the players -- (we know) that this is our group. We're happy with this group. We're excited about this group, what we think this group of 20-plus players can accomplish."

The "stretch drive" has now officially arrived, and it starts for the Blue Jackets in a very difficult rink. The Jackets play the Blackhawks at 8 p.m. in United Center.

"You can't take a breath against these guys," Richards said. "It's obviously a very dangerous team, and they know how to win big games. We're familiar with this group, because we've played them so much (as Central Division foes), so I think there's a little more of a comfort level with them than maybe there is against some of the teams in the East still."

The Blue Jackets have lost 11 straight games to Chicago, an 0-8-3 record that dates to Feb. 18, 2011. Yep, more than three years. But these are not your older sister's Blue Jackets.

The Jackets have won three straight games. The Blackhawks have dropped three of the last four, and the only win in that span was a 5-1 rout of Pittsburgh in an outdoor game in Soldier Field.

Richards has shuffled the lines and pairs with the arrival of the two new players. Frattin joined the Blue Jackets in the trade that sent Gaborik to Los Angeles, while Schultz was acquired from Edmonton for a fifth-round pick.

"What (the Gaborik trade) does is it moves Matty Calvert up," Richards said. "We think there's more there, as far as offense and what he can bring, especially being a young player."

Frattin will open on the fourth line with center/wing Derek MacKenzie and wing/center Mark Letestu. That moves left wing Matt Calvert back into the top 9 with center Brandon Dubinsky and right wing Cam Atkinson, while R.J. Umberger moves back to the left side, Nick Foligno moves back to the right side, and red-hot center Artem Anisimov steps between them.

Ryan Johansen's line was never altered.

Here's what Richards is thinking ...

F1: Jenner - Johansen - Horton

F 2/3: Foligno - Anisimov - Umberger

F 2/3: Calvert - Dubinsky - Atkinson

F4: MacKenzie - Letestu - Frattin

Schultz was expected to arrive in Chicago at midday, but was not at the rink this morning. Richards said the plan is for him to dress tonight, likely on the left side with Dalton Prout.

That leaves the pairs looking like this:

D1: Johnson - Savard

D2/3: Schultz - Prout

D2/3: Nikitin - Wisniewski

Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky gets the start. He is 1-0-1 with a .972 save percentage and 0.96 goals-against average, having stopped 69 of 71 shots in two career games.

-- Frattin said he went over the Blue Jackets' system with coaches this morning. "They said the team kind of plays like L.A., so same kind of thing ... fast and physical, and get the puck to the net," he said. "I'm excited. It was tough to get ice time in L.A., but hopefully I can earn some here. I'm getting an opportunity here; I want to make the most of it."

-- RW Jared Boll (ankle surgery) is on this trip, and he's very close to being able to return. "I thought I could play a month ago," Boll said. "You want to play so bad that you always want to be believe you're ready. But now ... it just feels really good. I need to keep practicing and getting up to speed, but it feels really good." Boll is not expected to play on this trip.

-- Blue Jackets equipment manager Tim Leroy will work his 1,500th NHL game tonight. If you count all levels, he's probably worked close to 2,000 games in a career that really started back in junior high, when he played hockey and fell in love with the game, just being around it. Leroy is an original Blue Jacket, and he's only missed a handful of games since the franchise launched in 2000.

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